The Parting Glass
by harrietpalmer13
Summary: Rated T to be safe. When a fire takes her home and her voice, Aini Rinyu goes from place to place trying to find her brother. When she stumbles upon a strange temple and fights a huge monster, she's swept up in a quest to find the Parting Glass. But how can you focus on the task ahead when you're slowly dying, and the only family you have left is working for the wrong side?
1. A Day Gone Wrong

The Parting Glass

by harrietpalmer13

1

I woke up panting. I looked around but I was still in my tree. Nothing unusual seemed to have happened.

"Oh, thank the goddesses," I breathed in relief. I'd had the dream again. My brother was evil and worked for _that_ guy... but it didn't look like all of that had happened so that was good. I yawned and stretched. Then I hopped off of the branch I was perched on.

"Tabari!" I called out. There was a yelp, followed by a thud. I moved over to a willow tree and pushed it's drooping leaves aside, revealing my brother Tabari sprawled out on the thick carpet of leaves on the ground. His face flushed and he quickly stood up. He was a good two heads taller than me. He was a very stocky young man at a shocking age of only 18. He had thick dark eyebrows, but bright green eyes in contrast. He also had thick brown curls that he tried, but failed poorly, to keep straight. He had a square jaw and thick shoulders. His teeth were crooked, as well as his grin, but they were clean. As for me, I'm very lean but still quite tall for my age. I'm at a respectful age of ten. I don't look much like my brother. I have thick eyebrows that are so light you can hardly see them. My teeth are oddly straight as well as my hair which is a natural orange. My eyes are a soft brown. My jaw is pointed, as well as my ears, which are normally covered by my hair, but are faintly visible. I only have one outfit. An itchy dress, with a collar and a broach with the sacred triangles indicated on it. The dress's sleeves are short and flat against my shoulders, revealing their extreme scrawniness, a ribbon tied around it near the hem. The dress itself is a sunset orange, with a yellow sash around my stomach. The skirt goes down to about halfway down my calves. There are little designs at the hem of my skirt and above and below the sash. I also wear, thick, brown boots.

"Tabari, Castle Town?" I asked pointing to myself.

Tabari shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

I grinned and turned to exit our wood.

"No stealing!" Tabari called after me.

"I don't want you to get arrested! You know I can't leave here to come and get you!"

I nodded. "Right! I'm not to!" I replied. Then I left our wood.

I don't speak much because when I was little, my tongue was cut badly and now a chunk of it's missing so it's hard to talk sometimes. Tabari and I live in a small section of woods near Hyrule Castle Town. We can't live in it because Tabari has a bad reputation of a thief. He'd get arrested the second he showed his face. So I had to go and buy everything for us. I also have a stand in the Market. I sell things I made in the forest. Bows and arrows mostly, but sometimes pottery. There is a river back in the wood, with clay on the bottom, It takes a while to make but I sell them at a bit high of a price because they really are nice pots and bowls. They actually sell out pretty quickly. I also sell bowstrings because sometimes people's will break. I emerged from the wood. I went around one corner of the wall and walked for a few minutes until I got to the moat. I crossed the drawbridge and entered Castle Town. As soon as I passed through the gate I could hear the cheerful music of the musicians playing. The crowd was thick and everbody was busy, bustling around, setting up for the festival coming soon. I squeezed through the crowd and set up my stand. I placed my merchandise on the table and got my rupees ready for change. People began buying out the pottery right away. They were shoving all kinds of rupees at me. Green rupees, yellow rupees, red rupees. One person even dropped a purple rupee on my table and demanded three cups, two jars, and one bowl. The three strangest customers I got, were probably a nine year old girl with neon blue hair, a nine year old boy who was dressed like a Kokiri, and a man who looked like a Gerudo.

Blue Hair:

A hand suddenly grabbed one of my smallest bows then disappeared with it. I stood up and saw a small girl with blue hair slinking away.

"Hey!" I yelled.

She froze.

"You n-need t-to pay for t-the bow," I stuttered, my tongue aching.

The girl turned towards me. She had a thin face and a pointed chin. Her nose was a little big and her eyes were bigger. Her shoulder-length hair was covering her right eye. Her left pupil was dilating and shrinking rapidly. The color was electric blue. Her left ear was long and pointed, her right short and forced at the tip. She was very skinny.

She crawled over to me.

"You are... young?" she questioned. I nodded.

"Ten," I told her.

"Nine," she replied. She stood and in shock, I realized that she was taller than me by a few inches. She shoved a yellow rupee into my hand.

"I... apologize," she said slowly. She turned away.

"Wait!" I cried. She turned back.

"What's your n-name?" I asked her.

For a moment she didn't say anything. Then, "Aliana," and she darted away without another word. I stared curiously after her until she vanished into the crowd. What I noticed about her; she was running on all fours.

Kokiri Boy:

Something hit the side of my foot. I looked down and saw a beautiful gem. It was a green emerald with a strip of gold metal wrapped around 3/4 of it. I gasped in awe and picked it up.

"Excuse me," a voice said. I looked up. A young boy was standing in front of my table. In his hands, was a green hat with an odd shape. He had short blond hair and shaggy bangs flopping over his bright blue eyes. He was pretty small for a boy but he seemed strong enough. He was wearing a green tunic and brown boots. He had a brown belt around his waist. He put his hat on behind his pointed ears. Was he Hylian? Or Kokiri?

"The gem is mine," the boy said pointing to the stone in my hand.

"Where d-did you g-get it?" I asked him.

A shadow of sadness flickered across his face briefly. "A very close friend gave it to me."

"Oh," I said softly, understanding why he seemed so upset. "I g-guess you'll be want-ting it back th-then," I held it out to him.

He grinned, looking relieved.

"Thank you!" he said. "My name is Link."

"Mine is Aini," then he disappeared into the crowd.

_Darn._ I thought. _I should've asked whether he was Hylian or Kokiri._

Gerudo Man:

"Th-thank you, have a n-nice d-day!" I said to a woman who had bought one of my jars. She smiled and left. A man materialized in front of my table. He was very tall and built well. He had red hair and green-tinted skin. I thought that to be strange. He was wearing black armor. In fact he looked a little bit like...

"Can I help you?" I asked him politely. I had to keep my voice from trembling. He had a very frightening appearance. It was quite unnerving.

"What is the longest, most durable bow you have?" he asked.

"Let me s-see," I said. I bent down and searched through my bows. I pulled out along one. I placed it on teh table. THe man picked it up and examined it. He ran his hand over the smooth, splinter-free wood and tested out the bowstring a few times.

"This is very well crafted," he remarked. "Where did you get it?"

I c-crafted it myself, s-sir," I replied silently cursing my stutter.

The man seemed surprised. "I am surprised to hear that. Children like you don't normally create this kind of thing and so well at that."

I didn't respond. I wasn't sure if he was making fun of me or complimenting me.

"How much will this be?" he asked.

"Twenty."

He dropped a red rupee onto the table. I scooped it up and the man disappeared. Not like, disappearing into the crowd, I mean legitimately disappearing. One minute he was standing there with the bow and when I blinked he was gone. I glanced around in confusion but couldn't see him. I shrugged. _I wonder if he really is Gerudo..._

When the crowd began to thin out I packed everything up. I counted what I earned and got a total of 145 rupees. I grinned. Amazing. Tomorrow I would come back and see what I could buy before the festival. I stowed everything in my satchel. It was enchanted so that anything could fit it. I pulled the strap over my head and dropped it onto my shoulder. Then I left Castle Town just as the sun began to set, painting the sky a beautiful, fiery orange. As I neared the wood the air even began to smell like fire! Wait a minute... I squinted ahead and gasped. THe wood was on fire. I began running to it. The only thing that was going through my mind was Tabari. I dared into the wood, the fire immediately searing my hair and fraying my clothes. I opened my mouth to call out Tabari's name but my lungs filled with smoke and I had a coughing fit instead. My eyes were watering terribly and I could barely see. But I knew this wood better than anyone, even Tabari. Then I came out into a clearing. The smoke was gone, there was no fire here. I glanced around and what I saw made me gasp sharply and duck behind a tree.

I'm dreaming. I had to be.

_This is just mmy dream again. I'm still asleep. I must be._ I bit my arm. _Hard._ I almost yelped in pain but restrained myself. Blood dripped from my wound. And it hurt. My hear sunk as the realization hit that I wasn't dreaming. This was really happening.

Tabari was kneeling in front of the man from my dream. Tabari's eyes flashed red briefly.

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I watched the scene unfold.

"N-not you t-too," I murmured. The man must've heard me because he turned sharply to me. I froze. This was the same man who I had sold the bow to earlier! Before he could do anything I turned and ran. The fire was back. I couldn't see. I could scarcely breathe. I was running blindly this time. I didn't know where I was going. Then I came to the river. I ran upstream until I exited the wood. The fire had stopped here. I was getting dizzy. I stumbled up a strange path then I fell to my hands and knees. My hands hit stone and I looked down. I couldn't read what it said because my vision had doubled. There was a waterfall next to me but its roar was no match for the ringing in my ears. My vision began to darken. I retched over the edge of the path. I saw an oddly shaped figure sprinting towards me.

"H-help... m-me..."

Just as the person reached me, my world went black.


	2. Lake Hylia

2  
"Why did you bring her here?" a male voice hissed angrily.  
"She was going to die! I couldn't just leave her!" another voice, this time female, answered calmly.  
"She is a human, and not to be trusted!" the first voice got louder.  
"Shush! Don't wake her," the female voice demanded softly. "She needs rest."  
The male snorted. "She needs to leave."  
I tried opening my eyes but my muscles wouldn't obey. _Open!_ I yelled in my mind, irritated. My eyes cracked open and I was practically blinded. I screwed my eyes shut again and groaned against my will.  
"Shushie! She's waking up!" the female said earnestly.  
"I didn't say anything," the male grumbled but the female just shushed him hurriedly. Then they were silent. After a few moments I realized that they were waiting for me to wake up. I made a serious effort to open my eyes and keep them open. My eyes finally adjusted. I blinked and pushed myself onto my elbows. I surveyed my surroundings. I was lying on a strange water bed in a small room. The walls were a calm blue and there was a blue door and a blue-ish tint in the air. Or...  
It wasn't air.  
It was water.  
My eyes widened and I almost started freaking out. My eyes didn't sting, my throat felt pinched shut so I couldn't breathe through my mouth or nose and a sharp pain was pinching the sides of my neck. Something else that I realized was that my bangs were floating in front of my face like they normally would underwater, but the rest of me wasn't which meant either I was wearing something heavy or there was no air in my lungs. I grabbed at my throat and felt something metal on the sides. I heard a polite cough to my left. I turned and saw two people standing, or floating I guess, there. Or wait. They weren't people they were... Zora? I think that's what they were called. Anyway, the Zora on the right was male. He had blue scales and a golden helmet that went down between his eyes and partially over his long fin coming out of the back of his head. He was gripping a wicked looking spear with a frighteningly sharp blade on it. He did not look happy to see me. I wasn't very over-joyed about his presence either.  
The Zora to his right however, was smiling warmly. She looked like a mix between a Zora and a Hylian. She had blue and yellow scales but her hands and feet weren't webbed. She had human hair that was dark blue at the sprouts but slowly turned lighter until it was white at the tips. She had no ears. She was wearing a calf-length dress that was cut diagonally at the hem in front but was covered by a pale purple, transparent fabric.  
"Um, hi!" the Zora girl said cheerfully but a little nervously. I blinked, not trusting myself to speak.  
"My name is Vivian Klain and this is Kroy," she gestured to the Zora man next to her. "What's your name?"  
I opened my mouth and surprisingly no water entered. I didn't say anything. I tried to speak. I really did, but every time I tried my throat pinched and didn't allow my voice to work. So I just closed my mouth.  
"Can you speak?"  
I shook my head.  
"Well then I guess you can't tell me your name, huh?"  
I shook my head again. *Well, duh.*  
I pointed to myself and held up ten fingers.  
"You're ten?" Vivian guessed.  
I nodded then I pointed to her.  
"How old am I?"  
I nodded again.  
"Oh, I'm seventeen," she smiled.  
"Can I leave now?" Kroy asked impatiently.  
"Yeah, you can go now," Vivian answered, barely glancing at him.  
"Thank you!" I heard him mutter. He quickly swam from the room. Vivian came over to me. She sat down on the edge of the bed.  
"Three things you might want to know," she began. "First, you're in different clothes."  
I blinked and pulled the covers off of me. If I could've gasped I would've. I indeed, was in completely different attire. All of my old clothes were gone. I had tall boots with long flippers on my feet. They had a thin layer of Zora scales covering them that made them have a blue glint. The boots went above my knees. I had a short skirt that was blue but got darker as the hem neared. The skirt went to slightly above my knees. It also had a few layers of scales but these were thicker. A black belt with a silver buckle as looped around my waist. I was wearing a dark blue shirt that was tucked under the belt. The shirt had long sleeves and a collar. And, as you might've guessed, a layer of thick scales. My hair was in a loose braid. I can't believe that I hadn't noticed that before. When I pulled it over my shoulder to look at, a strip of my hair had turned blue and matched the color of pure, blue water. Woven into my braid were numerous scales. The whole outfit was a bit large for me.  
"The scales keep you and your clothes dry. Vivian told me.  
When I glanced suspiciously at the ones intertwined into my hair Vivian giggled.  
"I couldn't resist playing with your hair a little bit!" she admitted . "It's not often that I get to do a human's hair!"  
I raised an eyebrow. *A little bit?*  
"Okay, second," she leaned closer to me and spoke quietly into my ear. "I'm not a full Zora. I'm actually half Zora, half Hylian."  
I was surprised to hear this. I knew that she didn't look full on Zora, but I didn't really think it was possible for a Zora and a Hylian to breed.  
"My mother was a Hylian, my father a Zora," Vivian continued. "And lastly, uh, I don't mean to alarm you but..." she pointed at my neck. "To let you breathe... we had to... give you gills?" she said carefully.  
I reached up and touched the sides of my neck again. There was certainly metal there and in horror, I realized that they were metal slates slid into my neck. That thought was disturbing. I stared at Vivian in terror.  
She grimaced. "You'll have to keep those in for two more years so that the gills form."  
*Two more years?! Why'd ya stick these things into my neck in the first place?!*  
"Where's you're family?" Vivian asked.  
My heart jumped into my throat. Mom... Dad... Rikilio...  
Tabari.  
I'm pretty sure I was crying at this point but it's hard to tell since I was underwater. I turned away from Vivian not wishing for her to see me like this. She saw anyway.  
"Oh, I' m sorry for bringing up the subject!" she moaned.  
I blinked back the remainder of my tears and instinctively wiped underneath of my eyes with my sleeve. I shook my head.  
"So, uh, different subject!" Vivian announced quickly. "Can you do charades and try to tell me what happened to you?"  
I shrugged in an *I'll try* sort of way. So I did try. I stood up. I fanned my face.  
"Heat," Vivian guessed.  
I nodded. I tried indicating fire by making large motions with my hands and making a burning sound with my mouth.  
"Explosion?" Vivian looked confused.  
I held my hand horizontally and tilted it to show that she was getting there. Vivian thought for a moment.  
"Ooh! A fire!" she cried.  
I nodded. I grabbed my throat and coughed a few times then I indicated to the air (water. Whatever).  
"Bad air? No! Smoke!"  
I gave Vivian a thumbs-up. Then I showed breathing motions even though I couldn't breathe through my mouth.  
"You inhaled too much smoke!" Vivian figured out.  
I nodded vigorously.  
"Oh is that why you can't speak?" Vivian realized.  
I shrugged then nodded.  
"Oh, ouch!" she sympathized. "But since you can't talk right now I don't know you're name. So I'm gonna give you one..." Vivian tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm... how about Aisha?"  
I shook my head.  
"Cryanna?"  
I shook my head.  
"Sonierra?"  
I shook my head.  
"Davina?"  
I shook my head.  
"Liora. Soshanna. Wittle. Jozenne. Valliri-"  
I clapped my hands, which believe me is very difficult to do underwater, and nodded hard.  
"What? Valliri?" Vivian asked to verify.  
Grinning I nodded.  
Vivian smiled.  
"Valliri. I like it! I was just rambling off names. Valliri is actually a Zora name but if you're sure,"  
I nodded again.  
"Good! Valliri it is then! Until you can tell us your real name!"  
I smirked. But inside I was frowning. I wasn't so sure that I'd ever be able to speak again.  
"How long do you plan to stay here?" Vivian asked.  
I shrugged.  
"Where do you live?"  
I looked away.  
That told her enough.  
"Oh..." she breathed.  
I bet she was thinking that the fire had burned my home. Which, pretty much, it had.  
"You could stay here," a smile crept onto Vivian's face.  
_What?!_ I yelped in my mind.  
"Yeah. You could live with me! I have an older sister who's all Zora but I've always wanted a little sister!"  
I blinked.  
"Are you okay with that? Living here?" Vivian asked, a hopeful smile on her face.  
I thought about it for a few moments. I had nowhere to go and this Zora/Hylian girl seemed very willing to take me in. Why not? I nodded, but then I quickly pointed to the door.  
"Oh." Vivian flapped her hand dismissively. "Kroy lives in Zora's Domain we don't have to worry about him. Or anybody else for that matter! We've just gotta make sure that my sister takes a liking to you." Vivian giggled. It sounded like water linking against glass. "I'm sure that'll be easy! You're easy to like!"  
I blushed furiously.  
"Do you know how to swim?" Vivian asked.  
I held out my hand and tilted it.  
"Oh, we gotta do better than that!" Vivian dove forward and grabbed my wrist. "Come on!" She dragged me outside. We emerged into a huge open expanse of water. In fact it looked like...  
"Lake Hylia!" Vivian announced with pride. "It's really difficult to live here, what, with the Water Temple and all, but since my father was the head of the guard of the temple, it was real easy!" she gave me a quick tour of the area while I took it all in. It really was breathtaking. The way the sun filtered through the surface and how its rays cut in through the dark water. How crystal the water was. The plant life, the creatures... it was all very beautiful.  
"This is just the spare room. Our house is up there," Vivian pointed to a structure above us with half of it submerged in the water, and the other half on the land.  
"My sister lives in the lower half and I live in the upper. Oh! But listen to me rambling on and on! We need to get you some swimming practice if you're gonna live here!"  
And so we practiced. All day. I learned to dive from land, I mastered diving while in water, I got quite good at swimming underwater like a human but failed at doing it like a Zora. I swam on the surface very well with all strokes and soon I was splashing around and playing tag with Vivian. She was just about to grab my ankle for what felt like the millionth time when a voice cut into our game.  
"Vivian? What are you doing?"  
Vivian stopped swimming and I followed her example.  
A young Zora woman was swimming over to us. Her scales were blue and pink. Her eyes were covered by her pink coral hair that faded to yellow at the end. She had a short skirt and a strapless shirt over her chest and part of her stomach. The Zora woman arrived in front of us.  
"Vive, who is this?" she asked casting a sideways glance at me.  
"This is Valliri," Vivian answered.  
"Valliri, huh?" the woman looked over me and when she realized that I was a human her mouth dropped open. She shook her head and turned to Vivian.  
"How? And why?" she said as calmly as possible.  
"She was in a terrible fire that took her house, family, and voice. I found her passed out on the path by the River."  
The woman opened her mouth to say something but Vivian cut in.  
"If I left her there she would've died. Please, Vikktorri, she's only ten!"  
The woman, or Vikktorri, looked at me appraisingly. She sighed.  
"You have always wanted a little sister, haven't you Vive?" she said with a grin.  
Vivian began to smile wide until Vikktorri spoke up again.  
"But..." she began. "Valliri has to beat me in a race first."  
"WHAT?!" Vivian cried.  
"Whaddya say Valliri?" Vikktorri turned to me, smirking. She held out her webbed hand for me to shake.  
"Don't do it Valliri, it's a trap!" Vivian tried to persuade me.  
I shut her out. I grabbed Vikktorri's hand and shook it grimly. Vikktorri laughed.  
"You're on, little girl!" she taunted.  
Before I knew it, we were standing on a ledge a few yards above the surface of the lake.  
"Ready!" Vivian called out.  
I planted my right foot in front and positioned my left behind it. I saw out of the corner of m eye, Vikktorri doing to same.  
"Set-" Vivian continued.  
"GO!" Vikktorri screamed before it was time.  
Confused I stumbled forward but stopped myself before I got to the edge. I turned to glare at Vikktorri but she wasn't there. I felt a hard shove from behind and I cried out in my mind. I tumbled over the edge of the platform but I quickly grabbed onto the side of the ledge before I was fully off.  
"Valliri!" Vivian yelled.  
Vikktorri grabbed my wrist and yanked me up, laughing.  
I stood up and brushed myself off, glaring angrily at Vikktorri. We got into position again.  
"Ready, set GO!" Vivian shouted before Vikktorri could scream and make me fall again.  
We dove in.  
At first Vikktorri and I were even but I began to pull ahead. When my head was a couple feet ahead of her's I began swimming to the side to avoid her trying anything. I suddenly felt a hand grip my ankle and yank me back. Then Vikktorri was above me. She kicked the small of my back and sent me down aways in the lake. I floated, dazed, for a moment before kicking back into gear. I got an idea. I dove to the bottom of the lake and swam as fast as I could along the bottom. I glanced up. Vikktorri wasn't even looking down. And she had slowed. I smirked and sped up. _My turn._ I thought.  
I passed by a building embedded in the ground. I was past it though before I had time to examine it. But I did have time to feel a strange sense of darkness wash over me. I pushed it aside for the moment and kept on swimming. That isn't my focus right now. I surpassed Vikktorri. I began my incline. I got to the surface but I stayed just below it. Then a hand grabbed my ankle again. Was Vikktorri really trying this again? Before I could stop myself instinct took over and I lashed out with my feet. My heel connected with something hard and the hand released my ankle. I figured that I had kicked her in the head. Whoops.  
I reached the other side of the lake and kicked myself above the surface. I emerged just in front of Vikktorri.  
"What?!" she yelped when she saw me in front of her. "How did you-?  
I clapped my hands loudly and glared at her with a look of, _Shut up right now, you bastard._  
Vivian came swimming over to us. She had a huge smile on her face.  
"Well?" she said to Vikktorri smugly. "Valliri beat you!"  
Vikktorri stared at me open-mouthed.  
"A human," she breathed. "You're a human. And you. Beat. Me."  
I simply nodded.  
"Wow," she said, and a grin began to grow on her face. "Wow."  
"Vikktorri, she can stay now. You made a deal!" Vivian said slightly angered.  
Vikktorri seemed to be snapped out of her trance. She looked from me to Vivian and back again. She clapped her hand on my shoulder. I couldn't see her eyes but I could tell that she was staring deep into mine which was creeping me out.  
Suddenly her face changed for only half a second. It was gaunt and her eyes showed. They were blood red and had streaks of black fanning out underneath of them. Her teeth were pointed and her nails were digging into my shoulder. Then she was normal again.  
She grinned. "Welcome to the family."


	3. Traveler Meets Travelers

**I would like to thank Guest who reviewed my story. I am very grateful to you for telling me that you like this. It motivates me to continue. (I know I'm acting calm but when I read the review I had a minor heart attack of joy.)**

3  
The next few days were really great. I pretty much mastered swimming now but I'm still not the best at swimming on the surface. It turns out that Vikktorri, isn't a cheating jerk but that she was 'testing me' to see if I would cheat as well. Since I didn't she saw me as honest, yet clever. And she liked that. We'd had a couple more friendly races. A winner was always difficult to determine. But I think they might've been going slow for me. And sadly, no matter how hard we tried, my voice wouldn't come back. I'm mad about it. But not a day went by when Tabari didn't cross my mind. And sometimes it affected my mood. But whenever either of the sisters asked me what was wrong, I just plastered a fake smile on my face and shook my head. They dropped the subject every time.  
I wish I had known what was going to happen the next a few days from now otherwise I never would've left the lake to go to Castle Town for the upcoming festival.  
Vikktorri gave me human boots that she had 'Zora-fied'. She pretty much just covered it in Zora scales. Vivian had given me provisions for the one-day travel. Then with quick good-byes, I set out.

_I wish I had a horse._ I thought as I tromped across Hyrule Field. My stomach growled hungrily after three hours. I sighed and ignored it. I didn't want to eat anything unless absolutely necessary. Half an hour later I swear my stomach was having convulsions. So I reached for my little bag that Vivian had stuffed with fruits. I pulled out an apple and took a huge bite out of it. I savored the taste as some of the juice dribbled down my chin. I wiped it off with my sleeve and swallowed. I sighed contently and ate the rest. I stopped when I got down to the core. I glanced around and saw a rabbit off to the side of the path. I tossed the apple core to it. The rabbit jumped away but slowly came forward, sniffing at it. Then the rabbit picked up the core in its mouth and ran off with it. I chuckled silently and continued walking. My feet were getting very sore as well as my legs. I forged ahead but eventually exhaustion overtook me and I collapsed under a large tree. I reached into my sack and felt around for my father's piccolo. My hand closed around the object and I withdrew it. It was a cylinder shaped instrument with an assortment of holes in it. It was cold and metal but a nickel color that glinted beautifully in the sunlight. I brought the instrument to my lips and played the notes that my father taught me. He always said to play it to keep my storm riding. Then he'd wink. I'd never really understood what he meant but the song always stuck. I never forgot it.  
I played and let my eyes slide shut. The song was filling up my ears and the space around me. I thought I heard a sound off in the distance but I couldn't care less. I kept playing. Then the sound came again. This time I definitely heard something. I lowered the piccolo and looked around. A horse was galloping straight towards. I stood up and began backing away. As the horse got closer I saw that it had no rider. _What?_  
The horse didn't stop. When it was only a few feet away I dove aside, clutching the piccolo to my chest. I turned over onto my stomach and stood, coming face-to-face, or I guess it would be face-to-muzzle, with the sleek, black, stallion. His coat was completely black but his mane and tail were a dazzling white.

_Tempest?_ I mouthed wanting desperately to say his name but unable to. Memories of my horse came rushing back to me.

_"What do you want me to see?" I giggled as a little seven year old. My father's huge hand was covering my eyes. He chuckled._  
_"It's a surprise, Aini."_  
_I kept quiet after that and let him guide me. Suddenly it smelled like animals and it got really warm. My father took his hand away from my eyes. I gasped as he revealed that we were in the doorway of a stable full of horses_  
_"W-what?" I turned to my father in joyous confusion. He was grinning broadly._  
_"You've been wanting a horse for some time now, right?" he said._  
_I stared, my mouth agape._  
_"Your mother and I think you're old enough to handle one."_  
_"B-but... what about our money? Could we afford one?" I asked anxiously._  
_My father laughed. He ruffled my hair._  
_"Oh Aini, you're too young to be thinking of these things," Father told me, brushing my hair behind my ears. "But... we have enough," he faltered. "Just go pick out a horse!" he spun me around and gave me a playful shove forward._  
_I stumbled into the stable. I looked around at ever horse. Some were just standing there blinking, others were stomping their hooves impatient or eager to get outside into the open air._  
_I glanced into a stall on my left and saw two smaller horses in this one. They looked like opposites. One was black with a white mane and the other was white with a black mane. I reached over the stall door to see if either of them would notice me. The white one snorted and backed away from me. I frowned and turned to the black one. It made no sign of having any interest in me. I felt my heart sink. I turned away with my hand still on the stall door. I felt something warm nudge my hand. I turned and found myself staring into the eyes of the black horse. I reached up and cautiously touched it's nose. It didn't even flinch or try to back away or show any sign of fear. I smiled. I scratched it behind its ear and it friendly pushed its head into my arm. I laughed._  
_"Father!" I called out._  
_He was by my side in a flash. "Yes?"_  
_I didn't look at him. "I want this one."_  
_"Nice. What are you going to name it?"_  
_"Him," I corrected. I thought for a moment. Then I grinned. "Tempest."_

I sighed and threw my arms around the horse's neck. I ran my fingers through his mane. He licked my ear. I backed away laughing silently. I rubbed my ear with my sleeve. I sighed again and went around Tempest's side. I was a little shocked when I saw that he had reins on him but I didn't think too hard about it.  
Without hesitation I mounted him. He reared back in shock a little and I gripped his mane. Realizing that it was still me he calmed down a little.  
_Alright. Let's see if you still remember how we trained you._ I thought. I neglected the reins, having never used them before and instead threaded my fingers through him mane and closed them into tight fists. I gave him a little kick with my heels and he took off. I gripped his sides with my knees to hold on. I held my right heel against his side and he turned sharply in that direction. I released the pressure then pressed his side with my left heel so we were on the path again. I then kicked his sides with both feet simultaneously and he shot down the path at breakneck speed.  
If I could've yelped I would've. I squeezed harder with my knees to hold on and lowered my torso down level with his neck. I closed my eyes, dizzy already. _Now how do I stop?_ I wondered.  
I eventually figured out two things. One; I pull on the reins or his mane to stop him. Two; horses eat. A _lot._ After only an hour my provision were three quarters of the way through. Tempest had slowed to a trot.  
_We really need to restock, Tempest._ I thought even though I knew he couldn't hear me. _I would've packed much more if I knew I would meet up with you!_ I grinned, patting Tempest's neck.  
I swallowed and my throat pinched slightly. I dug around my pack but sighed in frustration when I came to the realization that I was out of water.  
_Dang it._ I muttered in my head. _We really need to find a clean source of water._ I could tell Tempest was getting thirsty too. I pulled him to a stop and dismounted. I tugged on the reins and pulled him off to the side, under the shelter of a tree. I tied his reins to a low branch and sat with my back against the trunk. I sighed and wiped the perspiration from my brow. The melting heat of the summer sun was not helping at all. I closed my eyes. Just a few minutes...

A girl was screaming. My eyes snapped open. I shot to my feet and my head struck the branch above me. I fell back down, seeing stars. When I became fully conscious I realized I had slept for way too long. It was already dusk.  
_Shoot!_ I thought, gritting my teeth. The scream came again.  
"Help!" Get away! Help! OW!"  
Yep. Definitely a girl.  
I peered around wildly searching for the source of the voice. I quickly spotted a wagon tumbling along the path with a worn-looking horse prancing along in front of it, pulling it. A large was sitting on the seat at the front of the wagon, egging the horse on looking panic-stricken. It passed by me and I saw a small girl, around my age, with fiery red hair firing desperately with a bow at a skeleton. Okay, a lot of skeletons. Or maybe more like an army of small skeletons.  
Their eyes glowed eerily and they had long, sharp, red fingernail. Or claws. I couldn't really tell. They all had a tattered kilt-thing stretched around their bony waist. There was a horde of them chasing after the wagon. Every once in a while, they slashed out with their claws. One had managed to slice open the girl's leg and tears of pain were flowing down her face. She was desperately trying to protect huge jugs of... milk? Okay. Why not?  
Then I realized how much of a predicament they were in. Their poor horse was slowing quickly, and the skeletons were closing the gap.  
I turned to Tempest and fumbled to untie his reins. The branch it was tied to snapped off in the process. I clutched it and jumped onto Tempest. I kicked his sides swiftly and he took off. My left hand was gripping Tempest's mane, my right, the stick. I caught up to the skeletons quickly.  
I whistled loudly getting their attention. They turned towards me and I quickly dispatched them with my stick and Tempest trampled many others. Every time I struck them hard enough, or ran them over with Tempest, they burst apart and were engulfed by green smoke.  
I circled around the wagon and came at them again still whistling. A particularly large one lashed out at me and it's sharp bones surprisingly cut through my shoes and into my skin. I gasped in pain as tears sprang into my eyes. Another skeleton on the other side slashed Tempest's leg. He whinnied in pain and bucked, sending me flying. I was vaulted over his head and I landed on the ground, rolling some way, and eventually stopping in a tangled heap.  
My stick had fallen somewhere but I couldn't see where it was. My shoulder ached from slamming it against a rock during my fall and my ankle stung from being open to the harsh air.  
I opened my eyes and lifted my head. I blinked and tried to make out the blurry figures coming slowly towards me. My eyes came in and out of focus. Just as the first skeleton reached me, the one behind it exploded. The first one turned to see what had just happened and it met the same fate. Before I knew what was happening the group of skeletons were all blown to pieces one by one. An arrow lodged in the ground beside my foot. I looked up to see the red-haired girl standing in the wagon with a little bow. Her blue eyes were wild, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She lowered her bow when she saw that all of the skeletons were gone. She looked down at me and called out.  
"Are you okay?"  
I nodded. I tried to sit up. A wave of nausea swept over me and I fell back, my head thunking heavily against the hard ground.  
"Daddy! Come here! Quick!" I heard the girl cry.  
I heard thumping as the girl and man came running over to where I lay. I felt strong hands grip my shoulders and sit me up. My head rolled to the side and I kept my eyes shut.  
"Are you alive?" a deep voice boomed into my ears.  
My eyes shot open and the hands released my shoulders in surprise. Unprepared for that, I fell back again, hitting my head. Again.  
_Ow._ I thought.  
The man above me chuckled. "Oops. Sorry about that, lass," he pulled me up again. "Are you alright?"  
I examined his face. He was a large man with dark hair pulled into a ponytail at the center back of his head. He had thick sideburns that grew on his upper lip into a mustache. His eyes were bright blue like the girl's and he had muscular, hairy arms.  
I gave him a thumbs-up in response to his question.  
"Can you talk?" the girl piped up.  
"Malon..." the man hissed through his teeth.  
"What?" the girl asked innocently. "I'm just asking."  
I shook my head.  
Malon, I'm guessing that's her name, gasped and placed her hands over her mouth.  
"So can we ask you yes or no questions?" the man inquired, seemingly unfazed by my muteness.  
I nodded.  
"Are you a traveler?"  
I nodded.  
"Are you lost?"  
I shook my head.  
"Is that your horse?" he gestured to Tempest.  
I nodded.  
"Did you steal it?"  
Frowning, I shook my head.  
"Are you a Hylian?"  
I nodded.  
"Are you going to Hyrule?"  
I nodded.  
"Are you from Hyrule?"  
I tilted my hand.  
"Are you from Kakariko Village?"  
I shook my head.  
"Kokiri Forest?"  
I shook my head.  
"Gerudo Valley?"  
I rolled my eyes and indicated my pointed ears and small nose.  
"Guess not... this is a long-shot but Lake Hylia?"  
I thought about it then nodded.  
The man's and Malon's eyebrows shot up. They exchanged shocked glances then looked back at me.  
"How come you're wearing a scarf?" Malon pointed to my neck.  
I looked down at the faded blue cloth loosely wrapped around my neck to hide the metal slates. That I wasn't showing. I shook my head.  
"Are you sick?" the man asked.  
I shrugged. From how sick I was feeling I really couldn't tell.  
"You should come back to the ranch with us!" he suggested. Malon was immediately all over the idea. I opened my mouth to protest but remembered that I couldn't so I just closed it again.  
"It's the least we can do," the man continued. "After all, you saved our precious milk." He pulled Malon close. "And not to forget my daughter's life."  
I blushed and then my ankle stung sharply. I remembered Tempest's injury. I stood up abruptly and stumbled over to him. I crouched, more like collapsed, next to his injured leg and examined it. It wasn't very deep thankfully and Tempest didn't appear to be in any serious pain. I tore off a strip of my shirt from the sleeve and began to use it to soak up teh blood from his injury. He winced some but otherwise didn't move.  
I heard Malon and her father coming up behind me.  
"So this is your horse?" the man asked.  
I nodded without turning away from Tempest.  
"She's beautiful," Malon breathed walking towards Tempest as if in a trance. Tempest snorted and shook his mane. I pointed to Malon and shook my head. Then I pointed to her father.  
"Oh, your horse is a boy...?" Malon said thoughtfully. I nodded.  
"Now if your horse was in better condition I'd ask if it could pull the wagon but..." Malon's father glanced down at Tempest's ankle. I nodded.  
"We can tie him to the wagon and he can walk beside it," Malon's father suggested. I nodded again.  
"Come on into the wagon!" Malon pattered excitedly, skipping away to the wagon She jumped into the back and sat down. She wave me over and patted the floor of the wagon beside her.  
I stood up but a sharp pain zinged through my leg, forcing me down again.  
"Here, let me help you," Malon's father reached down and lifted me up. He slung my arm around the back of his neck and told me to lean on him. I did so.  
"My name's Talon. And that girl is my daughter Malon," he told me.  
I bobbed my head.  
"What's your name?"  
I jutted my jaw out in annoyance.  
"Oh, sorry, lass," Talon quickly apologized.  
I shook my head. _It's fine._  
"Since you're sitting in the back with Malon, you can let her give you a name," Talon chuckled. "Oh, she'll have fun with that..." when we arrived at the wagon he lifted me up and set me down on the lip of the floor of the wagon, in front of the jugs of milk. He spoke to Malon.  
"Can you tend to her ankle? You can practice your medic skills and since she can't speak," he winked. "why don't you give her a name?"  
Talon went back around to the front of the wagon. Malon's eyes were shining with excitement.  
"Hey, lass!" Talon called out to me. "Could you summon your horse?"  
I clicked my tongue a few times. Tempest trotted over, favoring his injured leg. Talon led him around the side of the wagon and tied him to it. Then he clambered up onto teh ledge, took his own horse's reins in hand and flicked them, clicking his tongue. The horse began walking and the wagon jerked ahead.  
It was pretty bumpy but I got used to it over time. Malon carefully pulled off my boot and rolled up my pant leg. I winced sharply and sucked in my breath and the material scraped against the wound.  
Malon cringed. "Sorry!" she whined. She reached over the milk jugs and pulled out a little box.  
She was wearing a long dress with fairly puffy sleeves. It as a creamy white and yellow color. She had on brown boots like mine and her hair was shockingly long, almost at her knees.  
She opened the box and emptied it of its contents. It contained a few bottles of a red liquid, some rolls of gauze, a few safety pins were thrown in there as well. There was also a bottle of water and a smooth cloth. There was also an eyedropper.  
She turned my leg so that the wound was facing upwards and I almost gagged. It was a few inches deep and some pus was oozing out of it. Blood had gushed from it but it seemed to have stopped now. Malon took a deep breath.  
"This may sting a little," she warned, the eyedropper in her hand hovering over my injury. I noticed that it was filled with the red liquid.  
I nodded and looked away. I felt something drip into my cut and at first nothing happened. Then I felt like my leg was on fire. I gasped and gritted my teeth. Tears sprang into my eyes and I screwed them shut. Then the sensation went away. I sighed and opened my eyes. I looked back at my ankle and my eyes widened. New skin was already stretching over the wound. The pus and dirt was being flushed out in a new stream of blood but it was leaning the wound. When the last layer of skin was pulled over the injury, all that was left was a faint scar. Malon began dabbing at the now healed injury with a damp cloth and it felt really soothing. I sighed contently. _Thank you._ I mouthed to Malon when she looked up.

Apparently she could lipread because she smiled and said, "Your'e welcome!"  
When she finished cleaning my ankle is was blood-free and looked as good as new.  
_Wow._ I thought. _That liquid works great._  
"That liquid is called Red Potion," Malon explained. "Creative name, right? You can also drink it. It heals numerous injuries over the length of five minutes. Only one swallow. I don't recommend it tough because it tastes something awful." She scrunched up her nose. "And if you drop it straight into the wound it's two or three depending on how bad the injury is."  
I nodded. _Useful._  
I then remembered that Malon had an injury of her own. I pointed to her leg.  
"Huh?" she looked down and saw the cut. "Oh," she said softly. "It's fine. I don't need the potion it'll heal quickly on its own."  
I frowned and jabbed my finger harder towards her cut for it had turned yellow around the edges. I sign of an infection.  
Malon bit her lip. "Look, I really don't think I should-"  
I held up a hand, cutting her off. I pointed to myself, nodding.  
Malon looked startled. "You do it? But... but..."  
I huffed, annoyed. I snatched the eyedropper from her. I nodded at her. _You're gonna let me do this._  
Malon sighed. She closed her eyes and looked away. "Fine. But make it quick."  
I squeezed the end of the eyedropper and one drop slid out of it, splashing in Malon's cut. There was a quick red flash as the potion started to work. Malon had the same reaction as I did only her was more dramatic. It probably had something to do with me having a pretty high pain tolerance compared to some.  
Malon clenched her jaw and started breathing quickly. Tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto her dress, leaving damp marks in the fabric. I watched as the cut began cleaning itself out just as mine did and as new flesh pulled itself over the break in the original flesh. when the process was over Malon opened her eyes carefully. She sighed gratefully.  
"I'm glad that's over," she mumbled. Then she suddenly went back to her cheerful self. She clapped her hands excitedly.  
"Now for a name!" she squealed.  
_Oh, boy..._ I thought. _Here we go..._  
Malon began rattling off names so fast I could barely keep up with her. I listened hard but she never said Aini or Valliri. She knew way more names than Vivian! We spent almost five minutes going over names and we finally settled on the name Maia.  
Three names now! Whoopdey-freaking-do. And nobody except my brother... knows... my... real... one...  
Tabari.  
I blew air out of my mouth as slowly as I could manage. My stomach tied itself into knots. I clutched it and turned away from Malon, letting my legs dangle over the edge of the wagon.  
"What?" Malon sidled over next to me. She let her legs dangle as well. She tried to look me in the eye. "What's wrong?"  
I didn't meet her gaze.  
"Is it your family?"  
I raised my head and stared at her. _How did you...?_  
"Where is your family?" Malon asked. "Do you... do you... have one?"  
I glared at the ground. Tears threatened to slip past the long unbroken barrier. Images of my siblings and parents flitted through my mind. I slowly shook my head.  
"Oh, Maia!" Malon cried. She jumped onto me in a hug. At first I stiffened and leaned away waiting for her to release me. When she didn't I just relaxed and let her embrace me. I was comforted only slightly.  
Malon let go. "I can fix your pant leg," she said pointing to the torn fabric.  
I nodded. I rolled it back down and crawled back into the wagon. I replaced my boot.  
"We can fix your boot as well." Malon said.  
I grinned gratefully.  
It was almost pitch black outside. Malon adn Talon had both lit lanterns.  
"You girls might want to get some shut-eye," Talon called back to us. "It's likely that we won't get back to the ranch before sunrise so sleep while you can."  
"Okay!" Malon replied. She turned to me. "Let's sleep, Maia."  
With that she tossed me a blanket, grabbed one of her own, bundled herself up in it and fell asleep almost instantly.  
I pulled the blanket over myself and curled up. I laid with my hands behind my head, on my back, my knees bent. I sighed and closed my eyes.  
_This is definitely not what I expected._ I thought before exhaustion overtook me and I fell into a long rest.


	4. Curiosity

4  
I woke up to somebody shaking me gently.  
"Maia!" Malon whispered. "We're here!"  
I opened my eyes. The mellow sunlight filtered through the wagon's top and beamed onto my face. I sat up, shaking the sleep out of my head. I pulled the blanket off of me and handed it to Malon.  
"Oh, you can just leave that here," she told me.  
I shrugged and dropped it.  
Talon, who looked deathly tired, came around the back and helped me down. I was limping slightly because my ankle was still sore but other than that I was fine. Tempest was still tied to the side of the wagon. I undid his reins and checked his injury. It didn't seem to have changed at all over the long walk, just that it was crusty and the blood had dried. I untied him and steered him back around to Malon.  
"I still think that your horse is so pretty," she breathed.  
I smirked.  
"Come on," Talon yawned. "Let's get your horse in the stable and..." the rest of his sentence was lost in an exhausted mumble. But I got the point. Take Tempest into their stable.  
I looked to Malon since I didn't know where their stable was.  
"Come on," she said beckoning for me to follow her.  
I clicked my tongue to get Tempest to go along. We walked side-by-side, both of us favoring our legs. My right leg and Tempest, his front-left leg.  
I followed Malon through a huge gate at the entrance of the ranch. There were buildings on either side of us. Only three doors. We emerged from the narrow path onto a spacious corral. Horses were running freely around without a care in the world. Malon led me to the right.  
A huge door was on the other side of the building. Malon banged on the door.  
"Ingo!" she yelled. "Open this door for me please? It's Malon!"  
A harsh raspy voice came back. "Why can't you come through the door for humans?" it challenged.  
Malon didn't miss a beat. "I have an injured horse with me!"  
There was a moment's pause, then, with a grinding screech that made my ear drums scream in protest, the door slid open, revealing the stable. Inside the stable were numerous stalls. Inside the stalls were cows. By the just opened door was an unstable-looking man.  
He was very scrawny. He had thick eyebrows and a scruffy mustache that seemed to have minds of their own. His hair was dark. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably, like he had drank a bit over the usual limit. I couldn't even see his mouth. He was slouching awkwardly and sort of backwards, the little flab of stomach he had bulging. He gripped a pitchfork in his left hand and rested it on his shoulder. His knees were turned in and he had a natural look of anger and annoyance on his face.  
"Maia, this is Ingo," Malon introduced. "Ingo, Maia."  
Ingo glared at me, at least it seemed like he was glaring. He stumbled towards me.  
"So this is the injured horse?" he asked.  
I nodded, backing away with Tempest.  
"Where is the injury?" Ingo demanded.  
I hesitated slightly, then pointed to Tempest's leg.  
Ingo crouched down and examined the wound. "How long has it been since the injury was inflicted?" Ingo asked not looking away from Tempest's leg.  
"Overnight," Malon answered, proud that she knew this information.  
My upper lip curled slightly. Sure, she could speak and be proud for the knowledge she held. I couldn't speak and my knowledge would never be known to anybody. I couldn't tell anyone about that man or my real name or Tempest's name or...  
Ingo stood, brushed himself off, and looked up at me. My snarl vanished immediately.  
"I'm going to need to tend to your horse for a while. He's going to need to be kept in the stable for an hour or so," he announced.  
I shifted my weight front foot to foot. I was _not _comfortable leaving Tempest alone with this man. I looked helplessly to Malon.  
"Ingo is very kind to the horses," she assured me. "He'll know what to do. I promise he'll be good to your horse."  
I sighed and turned back to Ingo. For a minute we just stood there staring at each other.  
"Well?" Ingo broke the silence.  
I huffed and begrudgingly handed Tempest's reins over to Ingo.  
He nodded stiffly. He rubbed Tempest' neck, pulling him into the stable. Then with another screech, he pulled the door shut again.  
I just stared at the closed door for a moment until Malon, grabbing my arm, snapped me out of my thoughts. I turned towards her.  
"Come on, let me show you around the ranch!" And she took off, dragging me along with her. I let her pull me around the ranch, showing me everything.  
"This is the corral! And, hey, when your horse is better you can ride him around in here and jump fences and all that!  
"This is the storage tower. We keep the cows' and horses' feed and hay and water in here. We've also got a secret room behind this block here. But nobody can move it. It's really strange."  
Malon was indicating to a block in front of the wall. I squinted at it trying to make sense of it. It was almost as big as me and looked like it weighed a ton. It had two odd symbols engraved into it. The one on the left was a large circle with a line touching the left of it. The one on the right was two lines crossing diagonally over each other with two small circles at both ends of the line crossing from the top right to the bottom left. I didn't recognize them but they seemed familiar somehow. I was distracted again by Malon latching onto my arm and yanking me out the door. Despite it being out of my presence though, I still couldn't help but feel a strange magnetic pull to the block. I shook my head violently, trying to snap out of it with little effect.  
With some effort, I turned away and followed after Malon.  
"This is where we keep all of the cuckoos. My dad and I sleep up here..."  
I pretty much zoned out at this point. My mind was elsewhere. And by elsewhere, I mean I was thinking about that block and the symbols on it. I came to a conclusion; I had to move that block and get into that room Malon was talking about.  
An ear-splitting screech brought me back to reality abruptly.  
"Hey, it's Ingo!" Malon announced the obvious. She let go of my wrist, which she had been clinging onto the whole time, and bounded from the room.  
I sighed and trudged after her. How did she manage to remain happy all the time? I didn't get it.  
She had already skipped from the building by the time I got down the stairs. I saw Talon passed out in front of a box with the cuckoos jumping all over him. I chuckled silently and slowly tip-toed past him, making as little noise as possible, not wishing to wake him. When I got outside, I was surprised to see the sky a deepening indigo in the fading twilight. I made my way over to the stable and saw Malon kneeling by Tempest. She glanced up and saw me.  
"Maia!" she cried waving me over.  
I stepped over to her.  
"Look at this!"  
I crouched down next to her and examined Tempest's ankle. The only thing indicating that a cut was ever there, was the lack of fur in that area. My mouth opened and closed multiple times as I tried to make sense of this. I couldn't. I stared at Ingo in astonishment. He had a smug look on his face that screamed, 'I told you didn't I, girlie?' I wanted to smack it off.  
It was almost pitch-black.  
"Your horse can stay in the corral," Ingo said. I nodded.  
Malon stretched her arms above her head and yawned widely. Ingo and I both yawned as well. We glared at Malon. She didn't notice.  
"I don't know about you guys but I'm going to bed." She yawned again. "Ingo can you show Maia her roooommmmm?" she asked, the last word stretched out by a long yawn.  
*Stop yawning, dang it!* I thought angrily as Ingo and I yawned after Malon yet again.  
Ingo grunted and nodded stiffly.  
"Come on, kid," he said to me. He walked ahead briskly, taking long strides. I had to run to keep up with him.  
He opened a door next to where Malon had showed me the cuckoos.  
"Guest room is upstairs," he said gruffly, pointing to a narrow staircase against the wall. I nodded and began walking in that direction when Ingo grabbed my arm, yanking me to a halt. I turned to him questioningly  
He said nothing but his face changed. His hair, even his eyebrows and mustache, thinned almost to wisps. I could see his mouth and he was grinning creepily, showing two rows of teeth, his canine ones more pointed than they ought to have been. His eyes were red and bloodshot.  
I blinked and he went back to normal. He released my arm.  
"Have a nice night," he grumbled quickly before side stepping out of the room. He shut the door behind him.  
I stared at the closed door, slack-jawed. That was the second time this had happened. I shook it off an climbed the stairs. I opened the door revealing a small bedroom. A bed was in one corner of the room and a bookshelf with an assortment of books was in the other. A wardrobe was up against the wall. I opened it up and found a white blouse and thick leather brown pants and a pair of boots with thick black soles. I took off y scarf and hung it over the rack. Then I closed the wardrobe back up again.  
I locked my door so that nobody would see my neck and the metal slates in them. There was also a small window cut into the wall overlooking the ranch. I could barely see. On a nightstand by the bed was a candle. I fumbled with it for a moment before successfully lighting it. I carried it over to the window and set it on the sill. Not too long after that, my candle was the only one still flickering. I waited a few minutes after just to be safe. When I was sure that everybody was asleep, I blew out my candle. I pulled the scarf back around my neck and unlocked my door. I opened it and stepped out. I almost walked straight off the staircase. Multiple times. When I finally reached the bottom I had twisted a few of my fingers and had a purple bruise blotched on my shoulder.  
I exited the building and shut the door quietly behind me. I silently padded across the ranch almost running into the horses a few times. When I finally reached the storage tower my eyes and ears were so attentive that I'd hear a soft footfall from across the corral even with the thundering hoof beats. I softly opened the door and stepped inside, pulling it closed behind me. The few cows in there looked up at me lazily then, seeing that I wasn't a threat, they went back to munching on their chow.  
There was pretty much no light in here except for the block. It was pulsing a strange multicolored glow. It was green, then it was orange, then blue, then purple, then red, then yellow, and lastly gold.  
I just stood there in awe for a few moments. The colors glinted off of my scale-adorned clothing and danced about the room.  
One of the cows mooed loudly, snapping me from my trance. I slowly approached the block. I reached out and prodded it with one finger before jumping back, getting into defensive position. The block remained idle, having no reaction whatsoever, to my touch. I crept forward again and placed my whole hand against it. When nothing happened I went around the side and placed both hands flat on its side. It began to pulse brighter. I pushed it. It didn't budge. Frowning, I pushed harder. The light shone even brighter. If I could've grunted I would've. I was gasping and panting with effort. When I was just about to give up my lips parted open unintentionally and a word I didn't recognize escaped my lungs.  
_"Drastin!"_  
Suddenly, the block shone so brightly I had to close my eyes. The light still shone through my eyelids. Then the block shifted underneath my force. Screwing my eyes shut even tighter, I shoved the block with all of my might. It skidded over the ground and then escaped my grasp. I toppled and fell flat on my face. I stayed there until the light dimmed back to its steady pulse. I carefully picked myself up. There was a hole in the wall behind where the block had been. I hesitated for only a second. Then I ducked my head and began walking carefully down the passage.


	5. A Fight

5  
The passage was dark and dank. It got wider and higher the farther I went. Soon I couldn't touch the walls if I laid down on the floor with my arms above my head and I couldn't reach the ceiling if I jumped as high as I could with my arms outstretched. Then I came out into a huge open room. There were stairs leading down to a wide, empty, area. There were tall columns on the sides of the room to support the ceiling. Everything was white and appeared to be made of marble. There were multiple glass windows up by the ceiling and moonlight streamed through.  
"Wow," I breathed. Then I clamped my hands over my mouth. I slowly took them away. "Hey," I said. I sucked in my breath. "HEY!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. I clapped my hands in excitement. "Goddess, I can speak!" I began bouncing in place loving the sound of my own voice. "Oh my goddess! Now I can tell everyone what my real name is, what Tempest's name is, where I'm from, my race, what Im doing and the fire..." I trailed off. Oh yeah. The fire. I shook my head and stepped into the room. I descended the stairs. When I arrived at the bottom of the staircase, there were a series of crashes behind me. I spun around and saw that a huge wall had blocked the entryway. The stairs had sunk into the floor in rapid succession. A few more crashes reverberated through the room before there was silence. My heart hammered against my rib cage. Then pedestals rose from the floor, each one carrying a different weapon. I carefully approached them. There were words inscribed on the center pedestal.  
_Only one. Choose wisely._  
I examined the weapons. A huge battle axe, a whip, a sword and shield, throwing knives, fencing swords, a mace, a ball and chain, a bow and quiver of arrows, twin daggers, a long sword, a falchion, a war hammer, and finally, a pike.  
I looked carefully at each of the weapons before settling on the falchion. In its scabbard, the hilt guard looked as if it was trying to bite the scabbard. It was curved inward with teeth-like edges. The hilt itself was black, with a silver band wrapped around the center, and a half-sphere on the end. A blood-red stone was encrusted in the half-sphere. I carefully pulled the falchion from its sheath. The blade was long with an untainted nickel finish. It was sharp only on one side. It was curved upward slightly at the very end. It jutted upwards at the top towards the end of the blade and then it dipped down then slightly back up to a point at the tip. The scabbard itself was made of touch leather that was so hard it seemed as if it had been petrified. It had straps on it so that it could attach to my belt. It had strips of gold leather vining around it. It seemed to be gilded. I carefully grabbed the scabbard and the falchion. I pulled them off of the pedestal and with some difficulty, strapped it to my belt. I unsheathed the falchion and studied the blade. The moonlight glinted off of it and I saw one word engraved into it. _Speculum._ I sheathed it.  
There was rumbling and the pedestals sank into the ground. Then there was a loud smash. And another. And another. And another. I slowly backed up, my hand gripping Speculum's hilt until my back hit the wall. I faintly felt a faint pulse in my fingers of the hand holding Speculum. The smashing continued, getting faster and louder with each reverberating sound. Then on the other side of the room the wall began cracking. Dust rained down from the ceiling. The wall cracked more. I gripped Speculum even tighter. There was silence for a few moments. Blood pounded in my ears. And then the wall blew apart. I fell flat on the floor and covered my neck and head. Debris went flying everywhere, though none of it landed on me, thank the gods. When it all finally stopped I carefully stood up. Standing on the other side of the room was an armored figure. It had the shape of a human; arms, legs, head, body. The only difference was that it was two times the size of a grown man. It held a gigantic sword that was longer than me.  
I yanked out Speculum and held it out with two shaking hands in front of me. I really wished that I could leave here right now. We just stood there for a moment, and then the armored thing began to come towards me. It swung its sword. I yelped and dove to the side. I quickly stood up again, spinning around to face it. It slashed at me again and I dodged. It kept going like this until I got an idea. As it swung its sword at me again, I dove forward and rolled between its legs. I quickly stood up and spun around, going for its ankle. Speculum sank in and stuck there. I yanked on it but was unable to dislodge it.  
"Oh, you have _got _to be kidding me!" I gasped, exasperated. It whirled around and smacked my abdomen with the flat of its blade. The force of the blow sent me flying across the room. I slammed into the wall and slid to the floor, landing in a crumpled heap. I desperately tried to suck air into my lungs. When I finally succeeded, a sharp pain jabbed my chest. I groaned.  
"I swear that broke a rib!" I turned my head in search of Speculum and another searing hot pain shot up the side of my neck. "And my neck."  
The monster bore down on me and I scrambled out of the way. Its sword smashed right through the wall as if it were water. I ducked underneath a large piece of rubble and fumbled for a bottle of red potion. I found one and hurriedly uncorked it gulping down a third of its contents. I almost gagged but restrained myself. Goddess it tasted almost as bad as earwax! I shuddered violently and stuffed it back into my pouch. I sat there and focused on breathing steadily, praying that the monster wouldn't find me in the course of five minutes.  
It found me in six. Its sword barely missed the back of my head as it crushed to rubble to dust. Now fully healed I sprinted out from my destroyed hiding place and searched desperately for Speculum. I turned and saw it still lodged in the monster's leg.  
"Oh, come ON!" I yelled angrily. The monster came towards me. I took a deep breath and charged at the monster, screaming a battle-cry. The monster froze for a moment unsure of how to react to this, then it attacked again. I side-stepped its swing and jumped onto its leg, clinging to Speculum. The monster stamped its foot trying to get me off, I held onto Speculum. Each stomp dislodged it a little more. I synchronized a stomp with a yank and Speculum came loose. I smacked against the floor and rolled before coming to a stop. I carefully picked myself up and thankfully, nothing felt broken.  
_It's a Darknut._ a voice said.  
"What?" I said aloud. I glanced around but saw no one.  
_Duck!_ the voice cried again. I fell to the floor as the Darknut's sword swung over me.  
"Who are you?" I asked, standing. "No, better question! _Where_ are you?"  
_I'm in the sword, genius!_  
"Wait, what?"  
_I'd step backwards if I were you._  
I jumped back barely missing a fatal blow.  
_Its weakness is its neck._  
"But-"  
_Listen, we can talk later. Right now is not a good time. Just jump up there and give it a whack!_  
I ran away from the Darknut, glancing up at its neck. It was a good five or six feet above me.  
"How?" I spluttered.  
_Use the rubble, genius!_  
My gaze fell upon the three foot high debris.  
"Oh," I muttered. I sheathed Speculum and charged over to the nearest debris. I climbed up it as quickly as possible, cutting up my hands in the process. I leapt from the piece of rubble I was on to another one that was higher. I caught onto the ledge with one hand. I found foot holds and clambered up. I yanked out Speculum and faced the Darknut. It came close and swung its sword.  
_Duck and jump when it recovers from the attack!_ Speculum yelled. I bent down as the sword swooshed over my head. I the stood back up, ran to the edge and jumped, Speculum raised over my head. I slashed it down, aiming for the Darknut's neck. I made contact. It hacked into the chain mail and little loops of the chain went flying. It seemed to cut unseen strings causing the leg of its armor to come loose and clatter to the floor.  
"Yes!" I cheered.  
_Don't get too cocky, _Speculum warned. _Try landing on your feet here, genius._  
I did so. My knees buckled and I fell back landing hard on my rear.  
_Ooh, so close!_ Speculum laughed. _Almost stuck it!_  
"Yeah, and now my feet hurt like heck," I mumbled. I ran and climbed the debris again. The Darknut came at me and I ducked and jumped again. I hit its neck with Speculum's blade and its other leg's armor came loose. I was about to climb the rubble for the third time but the Darknut seemed to figure out what I was doing and hit me square in the back with the hilt of its sword. I felt my skin split open. I gasped in pain as I was thrown forward a couple feet. I turned onto my back, coughing harshly. Blood sprayed from my mouth. I reached back and felt a warm, wet spot developing on my back. I looked around for a hiding spot and I saw a piece of rubble propped up against the wall. I began scooting towards it.  
Suddenly, the Darknut's foot crashed down in front of me, missing me by only millimeters. It raised its foot up again and brought it down. I rolled out of the way, causing severe pain in my back in the process, just as it smashed the floor where I had been moments before. It was trying to crush me!  
_You need to heal!_ Speculum said.  
"I know!" I grunted throwing myself to the side to avoid the Darknut again. It wasn't long before I began to tire. "Speculum!" I yelled. "I can't... do this... much longer!" I had gotten up and started running about the room.  
_Drink the potion as you're running!_ Speculum advised.  
"I... can't run... for... five more minutes!" I panted.  
_It won't take that long if you drink the rest of that potion you drank from earlier!_ Speculum responded.  
"Okay!" I reached into my pouch and yanked out the Red Potion, while sprinting around the room and staying away from the Darknut. I yanked the cork out and chugged the rest of the potion hardly noticing the taste. I immediately began to feel my back healing. After only two minutes it was completely sealed up and I was reenergized. I clambered atop rubble and jumped and hit the Darknut's neck before it could even move its sword towards me. Its right arm armor fell down. This time I grabbed onto the chain mail of the Darknut so that I didn't fall off and hacked it again. Its left arm armor went down. I hit it one last time before I had to let go. The armor covering its torso clattered to the ground. I landed on my feet and actually stuck it.  
The now armor-less Darknut turned towards me. I backed up, Speculum held out in front of me. The Darknut threw its sword at me. I fell flat on the floor as the sword spun over my head. I stood back up just as the Darknut unsheathed another, smaller sword. It ran towards me.  
Crap, now it's fast.  
I sprung out of the way as it tore past me.  
_You can attack it anywhere now!_ Speculum told me. _Its armor is all gone just slash away!_  
"Got it!" I answered. I skidded to a stop and charged the Darknut. It came towards me, one of its steps matching three of mine. I ducked down when we met and sliced Speculum through its ankle. It tried to kick me but I jumped out of the way. I rolled to the side and slashed at its calf. The Darknut spun around and tried to stomp on me. I raised Speculum up under its foot. It came down and Speculum stabbed into the center of its foot. It jumped back roaring in pain. It fell to one knee. I scrambled to my feet and ran over to it. I dodged its sword and cut into its leg. I came down further. It sliced its sword through the air and I dodged it. Mostly. The point of it created a long horizontal gash across my cheek. I wasted no time. I jumped up, screaming at the top of my lungs and plunged my sword hilt-deep in the center of the Darknut's chest.


End file.
